1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laser systems and, more specifically, to a singlet delta oxygen generator and a process for producing singlet delta oxygen for use in iodine lasers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Singlet delta oxygen O.sub.2 (.sup.1 .DELTA.) is generated on contact of Cl.sub.2 gas with an aqueous solution of basic H.sub.2 O.sub.2 in accordance with the equation EQU Cl.sub.2 +H.sub.2 O.sub.2 +2NaOH.fwdarw.O.sub.2 (.sup.1 .DELTA.)+2NaCl+2H.sub.2 O
However, the excited oxygen can be reduced to its unusable ground state, O.sub.2 (.sup.3 .SIGMA.), by metal contact quenching, wall quenching, gas phase quenching, and liquid phase quenching. Therefore, to generate O.sub.2 (.sup.1 .DELTA.) both efficiently and in high yield, the contacting device (reactor) for the gaseous and liquid reactants must provide a large interfacial area in a small volume for a short time, followed by rapid separation of the gaseous and liquid phases.
It should be noted that the closest related art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,950 to Pilipovich et al. wherein there is described and claimed a method and generator for producing singlet delta oxygen. In that system, a hypohalite selected from the group consisting of BrSO.sub.3 F, BrNO.sub.3, BrOCF.sub.3, ClSO.sub.3 F, ClNO.sub.3, ClOCF.sub.3, FSO.sub.3 F, FOCF.sub.3, and ISO.sub.3 F, is reacted with hydrogen peroxide to produce singlet molecular oxygen. A preferred embodiment of the reaction is illustrated by the following example: EQU ClSO.sub.3 F+H.sub.2 O.sub.2 .fwdarw.O.sub.2 (.sup.1 .DELTA.g)+HSO.sub.3 F+HCl
The generator for producing the singlet molecular oxygen is a reactor vessel having nozzles for introducing the chlorine fluorosulfate and hydrogen peroxide into the vessel. An outlet is provided for withdrawing the products, and the singlet molecular oxygen is separated by condensing out the other products in a condensor.